SINGAPORE: Oil turned lower in Asian trade Thursday as dealers took profits after gains earlier in the week, analysts said.
A surprise rise in German industrial production had brightened the market's outlook for European and global growth, causing prices to rise in morning trade.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in June shed 16 cents to $96.46 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for June delivery dropped a cent to $104.33.
"The small fall that we're seeing is due to dealers taking profits on the previous days' gains," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP.
Prices rose in early trade Thursday following upbeat German factory output numbers that came after China said it recorded an $18.2 billion surplus in April, stoking hopes of improving demand in the world's second biggest economy.
German industrial output saw a surprisingly robust rise in March driven by a sharp increase in the energy sector, official data showed Wednesday.
Industrial production rose by 1.2 percent in March compared with the previous month, beating analysts' expectations of a 0.2 percent decline.
The fresh production figures were a further sign of gathering momentum in Europe's largest economy, supporting hopes for an increased demand for crude there.
Crude had been stronger in recent weeks thanks to an improved picture of economic growth in the United States, China, Japan and Germany, and by a rise in tensions in the Middle East after Israeli air raids in Syria.
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